Mortgage application volume fell 3.7% on an adjusted basis during the week ended February 8, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances decreased 0.1% while applications for purchases fell 6%.
On an unadjusted basis, total volume decreased 4% compared with the previous week. Applications for purchases decreased 6% on an unadjusted basis and were down 5% compared with the same week one year earlier.
“Application activity fell last week – even with rates decreasing – as renewed uncertainty about the domestic and global economy likely held potential homebuyers off the market,” says Joel Kan, associate vice president of industry surveys and forecasts for the MBA, in a statement. “Despite the recent decline in applications, we still expect that the continued strength of the job market and lower rates will support more purchase activity in the coming months.”
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.65%, down from 4.69% the previous week.
As Kan points out, the 30-year hit its “lowest level since last March, and was 52 basis points lower than its recent high last November.”
This drop helped boost both FHA and VA refinancing activity, which picked up about 10% compared with the previous week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.2% of total applications, up from 41.6% the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.5% of total applications.
The average rate for a 5/1 ARM, based on closings, was 3.97%, down from 4.04%.